The Devil Fruit Eaters, and their Judge
by HappyWritingMan
Summary: The only child of yet another family ravaged by pirate raids, a young man takes a journey. He is swept away in his quest by the mysterious sea and unexpected side-tracking that forces him to outgrow his old life. Along the way he encounters islands to boggle the mind, pirates in it for something more than booty, and a mysterious man who bears an uncanny resemblance to a legend.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer - I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.

Chapter 1 – Awakening! The Black Tree and the Glove

It was as he stared at the black box in his hand, that Daniel M. Lee made a decision: It was time to change. He could not ignore the fact any longer. If he was serious, he would have to take his hunt to the outside world. Lee was serious.

He had finished the day's hunt, and it was amidst his distracted stumbling through the dense, vast forests that blanketed this region of the sea, that he made up his mind. Over the past month or so, his subconscious had been telling—or trying to tell him that something had to change. Since the outside world wasn't changing, it would be up to him. Finding fruits was _definitely_ not enough. Yes, that's right, fruits-to be more specific, Devil fruits. At this point however, fruit was the correct word. He had found one, and only one devil fruit.

Now finding any devil fruit, due to their rarity, would make any group of townsmen gawk. But Lee's knowledge was limited. He had made his home far from society of any form. He thought that to finding something rare would be easier with less competition. Also his seventeen-year-old mind figured that if anything made sense with devil fruits, it was logical that one would find more easily things that grow in a place with lots of plants. Finding only one of the things surprised Lee. He had of course known they were rare, but months, and possibly years of combing the trees and vegetation for a find with next to no success was discouraging. But now he had found one. Finally Lee had gotten one of the cursed things.

_But it's not enough…_ he mused. _It won't be enough, not _this _way anyway. _It was hard not to feel discouraged. Years of grueling searching equals one fruit.

"Agh!" he complained tiredly to the birds roosting in the branches above. They looked at him, multicolored eyes blinking questioningly. A pair of sharp, yellow eyes emerging unnoticed watched Lee's every move.

–––––––––––––––– 1 Hour and 49 Minutes Earlier ––––––––––––––––

"Another day of labor without fruits." Lee stated impassively to the beetles scuttling on the dirt floor of the cave's entrance. He stood, panting at the cave mouth, catching his breath under the shelter stone roof. Outside rain pelted the dense jungle floor. "Ah well," he muttered doggedly. "There's always tomorrow." _You're wasting your time._ He heard his common sense chastise him, but he brushed it away as he had done before,_ perhaps for too long…_ But before he could think on the matter, a rumbling noise interrupted him. The ground he was standing on had been oddly squishy, and it began to collapse in on itself. The next thing Lee knew, he was toppling backside first into a small cave. He fell with a _thud_ and a short '_oomph!'_ to the cave floor.

As the dust from the impact cleared Lee sat up slowly, groaning. "Ooooohh, agh. What the heck?" He rubbed his aching bum and shook his head. "Agh. Ouch." Then he lifted his eyes. "What? Where am I?" He looked wildly around, seeing little due to the darkness save smooth stone walls. _Did I fall?_ He wondered, his brow knit with brief confusion. _I can barely see a thing._ He squinted his eyes for a moment, then as they adjusted, realized his surroundings. _Another cave? But… how? I was just standing on solid ground a second ago._ But it _hadn't _been solid ground. The rain had proven that. As he tried to make heads or tails of the matter, Lee spotted something far off that had failed to catch his attention before. Yet now with his eyes now adjusting, and with ray of light streaming in from his point of entry, Lee saw it clearly. It was a tree.

He didn't know what to make of it, but stood, mouth hanging open for a while. _A tree!? This makes even _less_ sense!_ He gaped at the thing, which stood, as if in complete defiance with the laws of nature, in the blank darkness. He stumbled up to the anomaly. He ran his hands ran over the bark, as if to assure himself it was real. It _felt_ real, and it looked real, though in the poor light it looked black. _What kind of tree could grow in complete darkness? _He looked the tree over thoroughly, but found nothing unique about it. Then he _did_ notice something strange. There was a black oblong shape dangling high in one of the branches. Lee eyes squinted in the darkness, trying to make it out, but it was futile. He had to get a closer look. He coiled his legs, and then sprang high into the nearest branch.

_Snap!_

"Whaa—!?"

The branch shuddered, and the wood cracked and groaned under the weight of his landing, and Lee tottered dangerously on one foot before steadying himself against the trunk. The branch swayed several more times, then stilled. Taking a breath, Lee relaxed his death grip on the trunk of the tree. _That was close._ He looked at the object he had seen earlier now hanging only a few yards in front of him. He couldn't grab it from that branch. _Maybe if I…_ He hesitated. Then in a moment's decision, he bounded of the branch, reaching out to the black object fingers outstretched. But Lee had made a slight mistake. In making a second jump, he had completely compromised the integrity of the oddly fragile branch.

_Crack!_

'Shoot!' was all Lee should yelp before he hurled face first for the trunk of the tree.

A dull _thud_, emanated from the tree, being followed by a light _snap_ and _thump_. Lee dazedly rubbed the bright red bruise on his forehead. _Ooooooww._ Lee felt miserable, he was soaked from the rain, he had fallen on his rump, and now his head wasn't feeling so good either. He sighed, long and pitifully, flopping his head to one side. Upon focusing his eyes in the dark, he saw the black thing from before. It must have shaken loose when he had jostled the tree with his… um… face. His fatigue forgotten, Lee rose immediately and drew his prize into the ray of light.

It was black, like the tree, and now that he saw it was _very_ odd in appearance. Its texture was smooth and firm, and it black swirls covered the round part of it. The other part closely resembled a stem, connecting the two small round shapes. If it hadn't been for the odd color and pattern, Lee would have said it looked exactly like a large bunch of cherries.

"Cherries? It can't be! This black tree grew some black cherries then, is that—" but he cut himself off, as it dawned on Lee what he was holding. _It couldn't be, could it?_

"Did I really do it? I found… a devil fruit!?"

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Climbing out of that cave would not have been easy, so it was a good thing Lee had his hops. He leapt out joyously into the sunlight—the rain having stopped—still clasping the black treasure in his hand. He landed with a splash in a brown puddle, mud flying everywhere and soiling his simple leather jungle outfit, but Lee didn't care. He couldn't care less about _anything_ right now, because he had found one. _I finally found one._

"YEEEAAAAH!" His boyish face wore an insane grin. _All that searching, and now I got one._ He began to run home. _All those years, and now… I _got_ one. _He laughed again. _So much work, so much hardship…_ Flashbacks of fighting off the fierce animals of this place and building his house flashed through his mind. _And now I got… one. _He finished uncertainly. _I got… one. _He repeated, and he slowed to a walk. _All of that time, endless searching, years _wasted_._ Lee came to a halt. _And I. Got. One._

Lee sat down, the full realization hitting him like a wave.

"Darn it." he muttered bitterly. "Darn it."

–––––––––––––––– Where Were We? ––––––––––––––––

"So to sum up, I have two choices really." Lee stated as he sat before fat brown squirrel in front of him. A rumble grew far off in the trees. "Either stay here in this jungle," the rumbling swelled to a roar. "…and keep up the search for more devil fruits…" The noise reached its peak as a giant red elephant charged into the clearing. Lee expression did not falter, as he slowly raised his hand to show a leather gauntlet. It was rather large for the hand-size of its wearer, especially at the knuckles. The elephant gave a deafening bellow, its feet flattening underbrush, its massive tusks smashing trees in half. Lee sat motionless; the squirrel remained likewise surprisingly, apparently familiar with the procedure. Lee stood up, looking apologetically his polite audience, before turning to face his rude interloper with an annoyed look. The mass of angry red beast was now bearing down right on Lee; who still remained calm. Lee raised the gloved right hand, and then pointed his third and little fingers at the monster.

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then a moment later the gigantic beast, in all of its furious mayhem, toppled head over heels into a heap, skidding a halt a mere few feet away from Lee.

"…or," continued Lee. "I could leave, leave and not come back. Maybe forever, maybe not." The squirrel yawned and looked at him mournfully. Lee's brow furrowed. The squirrel was reminding him of putting off action, something he had done for far too long. He stood up, annoyed with the squirrel, and himself. On an impulse, he started to extend the third finger of his glove, he wanted this thing to stop reminding him of his problem, wanted this thing doing something—anything.

_Don't be foolish._ The remembered warning rang in his head as if by reflex.

Lee's hand froze, his mischievous smirk drooping into a tired look. He retracted his finger, then extended his pinky instead. The squirrel's lazy drooped face stared back at him for a moment, then submitted into an exhausted snore.

And with that, Lee set off for home. If he truly meant to start out for a quest, it would take mean a few days of packing. _Or maybe weeks… _he realized. _There's so much stuff I've laid away. How much should I take? What should I leave? Should I leave anything? What will people be like in the rest of the east blue? _Questions crowded his excited mind. He had never traveled before. Only once before had he, when he had left his first home, or what was left of it. The image of flames lingering on a pile of charred planks and stones flickered in Lee's mind, and then it was gone. He had been scared then…

_It's alright to be scared. _More advice whispered in his memories.

That part of Lee's life was tainted by tragedy. It was the kind that happened to often to innocent people. Lee took a deep breath, exhaling sharply. _But that was the past. I've moved on. _And it would seem he had. He made survived striking out on his own, and built himself a new home. _Even though I'm leaving,_ he thought, _I will come back here some day_. But even as he walked, the thought never dawned on him that he was walking home, for what may have been the very last time.

_I won't be blundering in the jungle much longer._ Lee shook his head decisively as he walked. _No, this is only the beginning._ He glanced up toward the crimson sky.

Unbeknownst to him, another pair of eyes was watching the sky as well. They were yellow, like a hawk.

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As far as reviews go, don't mind what, just… feedback. Thanks for reading by the way. Props to you for a long attention span.


	2. Chapter 2

We're back, and things are just getting warmed up with Lee and his friends (he doesn't have any yet). Glad you liked the last chapter enough to maybe like this one too. So let's dive back in to the unlimited world.

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><p>Chapter 2 – Wake-Up Call! And The First Piece of Lee's Past<p>

It was three O'clock in the morning, and Lee was dead to the world face down on the cot in the bed/main room of his home. There were no "proper" windows, yet moonlight streamed in through small gaps in the large, pan-sized leaf roof of the refined lumber hut. It was 'refined' because of an incident that forced Lee to scrap the place and restart. He gave a shudder at the memory of the nasty fungus growing in the dead logs of the walls. He had actually set out into the treacherous jungle and picked out tree after tree that matched his criteria: straight, sturdy and new trunks. The entire tedious process had eaten up a grueling nine months of his stay in the wild, during which he roughed it out under the stars with the dangerous animal inhabitants that called that remote island home. It had been truly satisfying at the end of those work-filled, predator-haunted months to literally close the door on the ordeal, not to mention the exercise.

It hadn't been easy, but Lee had stuck with it. He was no quitter. From there it was the simple matter of installing the modern conveniences of a proper home that had brought Lee closer to the island itself. Even as he had staggered through the doorway at midnight, Lee looked with tired regret over the straight, shaved logs of the sturdy walls, the stone-tile floor he had painstakingly chiseled and mortared from scratch, and the rows of hand-made jars containing various meats and plants he had gathered and hunted from the island. Even the glowing lanterns, luminescent bugs flitting inside, he had captured himself. It would be a darned shame to leave. He had put time into this place.

Yet even as he toppled upon the fine linen sheet that covered his bed, which was the one thing he _hadn't_ fashioned himself, Lee's head tiredly scrambled with the thought of why he had put so much work into the place. Had he simply been so used to the last life he had lived that he felt he needed them? Was it possible that he thought he would live out the rest of his life on that island, hunting the fruits into maturity?

_No._ Even as he resigned himself to sleep, Lee knew. He had been stalling. All those months of work had been procrastination. _Why did I squander those days? Why did I put away the future until never? _Lee's thoughts became muddled as dreams overtook him.

The noises of evening filled the house. The trilling of the night birds came in through the narrow hand-cut windows, along with the gentle murmuring of the stream outside the house. Frogs croaked, the trees rustled, and the wind whistled. The soothing atmosphere was perfect for Lee's ever-active mind. But a moment later, that changed dramatically. The sounds of warbling, murmuring, croaking, rustling, and even the wind began to dim. All sound began to fade. The trees outside continued to sway, but now were quieter than a mouse. It was as if the entire forest had been stilled. For the first time in a long time, there was no noise. Silence, utter and complete, blanketed the house. In his sleep, Lee shifted restlessly, his expression uncomfortable. Had Lee been awake, he might have noticed the door slowly open. Even had Lee go so far as to oil the hinges, it would not have been so quiet. The silence deafening, Lee's mind began to turn back towards old memories.

His eyes opened, and he found himself standing in a house. Not the cluttered wooden one form before, but immaculate and painted a clean white. Lee's eyes studied the room closely for a second. _This place, this room… feels familiar. _He put off his confusion for the moment, feeling compelled to leave the room. He sat up from his bed, and as he stretched out his feet off the feet, noticed that they didn't reach the floor, but dangled. As Lee studied his feet closer, he noticed that they looked paler, and pudgy, like a child's. He dismissed it as a trick of the poor light. He got down. The wooden floorboards felt cool on Lee's feet. The moon outside was full, and illuminated clearly his shadow as he rose. Feet pacing slowly, Lee crossed the room and came to the open door opposite of him. He peeked his head out, looking both ways down a long hallway. More white walls, and more smooth wooden floor greeted him from every side. He looked uncertainly both ways, and then began to move toward the left way. But before taking a step, Lee froze, as a loud noise came to him from the other direction. He turned back the other way, and saw a faint yellow glow. Fear began to fill Lee's mind. This felt _very_ familiar. He had seen that light before. He had heard that _noise_ before. It was a human scream. As he walked toward the light he felt a sense of urgency, and broke into a run. The light grew in intensity as Lee ran down the long hallway.

"Mom!?" he yelled as the smell of smoke stung his nostrils. His voice sounded shrill in his ears. He coughed as the air grew suddenly hot and smoky, but he kept running. "Dad!?" The smoke pervading the hall soon began to make his eyes water. The light became blurry. Abnormally anxious and afraid, Lee tore down the hallway as fast as his short legs could go. The flurry of light, smoke and heat left Lee completely dazed. He stumbled, tripping over his own feet, and toppled on the hard floor. He wobbled onto his knees, panting. Lee was breathless and coughing, and his legs ached from running. His eyes stung, his head hurt, and his chest was heaving from the smoke.

Lee began to cry. He tilted his head back and wailed. "MOOOMMY!" _What's wrong with me?_ He thought. _Why am I crying?_ "MOMMY WHERE ARE YOU!?" _What's going on!?_ "DADDY, HEEELP!"

_Crack!_

A loud noise interrupted Lee's yells, and he opened his tear-filled eyes just as the ceiling above him shuddered. _Oh no. _It was coming back to him now.

_Snap!_

The blur of the light licked along the ceiling, and the memory of what was about to happen flooded back to him. _No, no noNONONO! _Fresh tears ran down his face. Lee tried to stand—tried to escape, but he could not change the past. His legs were stone. The ceiling buckled, enwreathed in flame. The next moment there came a thunderous _crack_ as a huge piece of flaming wood broke free and hurtled towards him. Suddenly All noise faded away. The sound of flames burning, the sound of the wood cracking and heaving, even his own crying was silent in his own ears, as the fiery meteorite bore down on him as if in slow-motion. Lee shut his eyes tight.

When he opened them, everything had changed. The smell of smoke vanished, the blinding light, snuffed out, and the stinging in his eyes and nose, gone. But the one thing that did _not_ change was the silence. Coming out of dream ending was calming, but that the sound had not returned was unsettling. The other thing that startled Lee was the fact that opening his eyes revealed the figure of a _person_ stooped over him.

The man was tall, all the more emphasized by the situation, and pale. His clothes were fine. He wore a baggy, deep blue jacket with the buttons ripped out, with baggy scarlet pants. Draped over his shoulders was a black cape with a bright green reverse. On his head rested a rather large headdress, with multicolored feathers stuck in it. It gave the appearance of wearing a colorful fan on his head. He had no shoes. Yet above all else, what Lee noticed most was his eyes: angled and sharp, with a piercing yellow hue, like those of a hawk. The eyes flashed with surprise as they noticed Lee's were now open as well. The two regarded each other for what must have been a fifth of a second, and then Lee flew into action. His legs to first thing to respond, he leaped out of bed, the covers flying off, and then catapulted himself off the wall. The intruder was quite startled, and barely had time to draw a _bow_ before Lee flew over his head. He landed gracefully into a crouch beside the chest where he kept his glove. Upon looking he saw that it had already been opened. _This guy's a thief!_ He thought, but wasn't too surprised. After all, the guy had snuck into his house and tried to practically smother him in his sleep. He snatched the glove out and whipped around as he yanked it on his outstretched arm just in to block an arrow. It struck the palm of his glove, denting the yellow metal as it glanced off. _Bastard!_ He thought. _Why didn't I hear him come in?_ "Hey, who are you?" he said, or at least, he _tried _to. "What? Why can't I talk?" Again, no words. Lee's face twisted with bewilderment. Then he noticed the intruder. He was smiling. The lanky man gave a look of mock curiosity, as if to say 'Oh, what's wrong? Cat got your tongue?' _He's a _devil fruit _user! _Lee gritted his teeth. _So another one of those monsters has found my home, and is doing what they do best: doing whatever they damn well please!_ His eyes narrowed as the intruder reached behind him for another arrow, piercing-yellow eyes always on him. _Let's see you aim after this._ He chuckled, and then crooked the ring finger on the glove. "Fog." He said, even though he knew there was no sound.

His attacker tensed, and then frowned as nothing seemed to happen. Lee grinned, knowing what was coming. The man's eyes suddenly widened, and the frown became replaced with a look of complete bewilderment. He looked around the room wildly, as if following the movements of a swift predator that was trying to outmaneuver him. He drew a hand back to reach for his quiver, and then his expression of confusion deepened. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to firmly grasp an arrow. He kept missing the protruding feathered tips, clutching multiple arrows by accident, and spilling them on the floor as he struggled frantically to reload. His mouth moved rapidly with what Lee guessed were many ejaculations. Lowering his finger, Lee smirked and cocked back his fist. He brought the bronze-plated knuckles directly against the left cheek of the man's pale face. The head jerked back, and a stream of blood flew red across the floor. Though there was still no sound, Lee knew that it had hurt.

He relaxed as his opponent crouched down in defeat. "That was easy," he said, then froze, as he realized that the sound had not returned. Taking advantage of his shock, the man whirled around and backhanded him furiously across the room. Lee yelled in anguish as he collided with the sturdy logs of the wall. He tried to get to his feet, but immediately collapsed as a sharp pain wracked his body, and he moaned with pain. Through all of this it became more and more strange to hear nothing but silence. Lee panted, grasping his chest as he heaved himself onto his knees. His breath coming in gasps, his eyes caught in their peripheral two bare feet.

"That is a neat trick," Lee started as he heard the stern voice. "But you are still not a match for me. No ordinary man in the East Blue may best me with tricks alone."

Lee jumped back, glove in front of him. Lee gritted his teeth, but did not speak. Even if the sound _was_ back on he wasn't going to waste time with words. _He's strong, not relying on his power alone._ He studied the user, trying to strategize. _He relies on sound. What weaknesses might that have?_ He mind began to race for an idea, even as his removed his weapon and set it carefully against the wall. "Well, since you are keen on conniving I'll show you how to fight. It is time to settle this the honorable way." _Honor?_ Lee thought with disbelief. _You were just about to kill me in my sleep and take everything I have!_ But Lee still did not speak. _I have to focus. How to beat him? How to beat him?_ He readied his defense, and the man stepped forward.

The man raised on black eyebrow with a bored expression. "Now to end this matter." As he said this, still trying to appear stolid, he took a rather odd pose, with one arm stretched forward, palm pointed toward Lee. The other hand rested open and face-up at the crook of his elbow. Lee's eyes narrowed. What came next Lee could not have expected or prepared himself for.

"HEEEYY!" The shout came like an earthquake. Random objects jostled off their shelves as the room reverberated with the sudden eruption of noise.

Lee seized his ears as the massive sound flooded his senses. _What the heck!_ His eyes widened. He head was still ringing when the second shout crashed over him like a tidal wave. "WHOO AAAREE YOOUU!?" Lee's head felt like it was going to split, but the question perplexed him. _Why would he ask that? He seemed concerned only with finishing me off a second ago. The voice sounded familiar though…_ Then a bell rang in Lee's mind. It was _his _voice. He had asked that question only a minute ago with no result, yet now the words exploded in his ears. _That's it, _he thought weakly. _He muffles and amplifies sound, that's his power._ Lee frowned as he glanced at the chest where the devil fruit lay. _But why does he want another one if he's already eaten one?_ He staggered as the pain in his ribs hit him again. _Yeah, those are definitely broken._ He grimaced. _But how to beat him? This guy would be a librarian's best friend or worst enemy._

"I ate the blam-blam fruit." The man said as he lowered his arms. "I am Cipher Saul, the soundman."

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading the story. I appreciate the appreciation and would appreciate maybe some feedback. If you got some ideas for characters, feel free to share, or not. (You could write a story of your own. I'm only doing this because I really love stories and many of my ideas aren't worth jack squat so thanks) You guys are my main source of motivation and reviews just might make me put more nights into my work.<strong>


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